It’s Monday morning, the shop’s closed, I’ve got a list of chores to do today that’s a mile long, but as I check out Facebook, I see Dave Alvin has made a comment about a clip of Chris Gaffney performing Hickory Wind. The link isn’t posted so I do a search on Youtube first for Chris Gaffney and come up with these gems.
The first couple are clips taken during a Johnny Paycheck tribute at The Elbo Room in San Francisco in 2003, where coincidentally, your Bakersfield & Beyond hosts caught Red Meat and others performing a Buck Owens birthday tribute a few weeks ago. Performing at the Johnny Paycheck tribute show are Red Meat, Chris Gaffney, and Dave Alvin. Check these out:
Then from there I followed links to “related” videos of Red Meat performing in Austin, Texas.
Red Meat in Austin part 2 with a classic Buck song, Who’s Gonna Mow Your Grass followed by Sparklin’ Brown Eyes (a song recorded by Wanda Jackson in 1960). Check out Michael Montalto’s guitar at about the 5:13 mark for a clear connection between the west coast country sound and the surf guitar. The song is mis-labeled on the youtube clip as “Rambleshackle Shack.”
And then finally, I made it to Chris Gaffney’s 1977 cover of Gram Parson’s Hickory Wind.
Great stuff!
Okay, two more to add. Classic Wanda Jackson.
Bakersfield and Beyond 